Morph
by Cainesqueen
Summary: What will Aspen do when Caine uses her power to spy on the kids of Perdido Beach? Will Caine be able to take back his rulership, or will Aspen do what's right, even if it means putting herself in mortal danger?
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Aspen Faylinn Willow sank further and further into her chair, willing herself to just disappear.

She was sitting in a hard school chair, facing the head teacher's desk at Coates Academy. Only this school was nothing like it used to be. Occupying the head teacher's luxury leather spinning chair was Caine Soren. And on the other side of the room, staring Aspen down, were his 'posse'. Computer Jack. Diana Ladris. And, quite easily the scariest person there: Drake Merwin.

Aspen stared at the floor, not able to meet anyone in the room's gaze.

"So Drake, run her story by me one last time." Caine turned to Drake, and Aspen felt his glare on her. It felt as though he was burning a hole through her head.

"So the squirrel's hopping along, then all of a sudden it's morphed into her. In like a second." Everyone looked at Aspen again and Caine narrowed his eyes.

"Diana." He said, and the only other girl in the room, the most beautiful girl Aspen had ever seen, sauntered over to her, taking her hand in her own. Aspen flinched but Diana didn't do anything, just held it for a bit, and then walked back over to her place by the wall.

"Well?" Caine demanded.

"A 3 bar." Diana said simply, Aspen frowned – what were they talking about? Caine nodded slowly.

"What's your name?" He demanded and Aspen finally caught his eye.

"Aspen." She said. "Aspen Willow."

"Can you show us your power Aspen?" Caine said smoothly. She looked up at his face, at his handsome features and his equally smooth expression. She nodded and then disappeared. A cat now sat on the seat instead, licking its paws. Then it turned into a swallow, did a few loops of the room before morphing into a king cobra and hissing at Computer Jack who screamed like a girl, and then finally returned to Aspen again. She took a seat again on the chair. Caine had his eyebrows raised, he looked impressed.

"Impressive." He said, and then his eyes lit up. "Can you only do animals?" Aspen shrugged. "I haven't really tried anything else…"

"Well give it a go now. Try and morph into…Drake here." Aspen looked up at Drake looking him up and down as if trying to take in every little detail. She met his eyes and shrank away from their cruel gaze, and then, suddenly she was him. The Drakes looked at each other. There was no doubt about it; they were identical. Right down to the end of their matching whip hands. The original didn't look too impressed. He narrowed his eyes, as if in a warning. Caine laughed, clapping his hands as Aspen returned to her original form.

"Excellent!" He cried out gleefully. "You are going to come in _very_ useful. He smirked, as Aspen bit her lip and looked up at him. "You look tired; you better get some sleep, Drake? Show her to a room. And…let her in on…the rules." He winked, and Drake nodded. He gestured for Aspen to follow him out of the room and she did.

Drake stared at the girl walking next to him. She was a lot shorter than him, her head coming up to his shoulder, and she was slim as well. She had tanned skin and a long curtain of dark brown hair down to her hips; it was slightly wavy, crimped. Her eyes were huge and caramel. She had a button nose and full lips, which she was biting now. She had been very quiet so far but instinct told Drake that she was quite a fighter underneath. He decided to get to know her a bit more.

Aspen jumped as she felt Drake's horrible monstrous tentacle wrap around her waist. It pulled her closer towards him and she had to put a hand on his firm chest to steady herself. She looked up at him and saw him smirk.

"So, want me to show you the ropes?" He asked. She paused, not sure what was the right answer. She nodded slowly.

"So basically, you do as you're told? Everyone's happy. You don't or try to run away or generally be a naughty girl?" He smirked and Aspen felt the tentacle close round her throat, squeezing the breath out of her. She tried to pull it off but it was too strong. He lifted her up with it and held her in front of him. He watched as she started to turn blue and loosened his grip slightly. Then he pulled her close enough for her to feel his breath on her face. "I suggest you go for the 1st option." He released his grip and she fell in a heap on the floor, gulping the air in. He kicked her lightly. "Come on!"


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

That first day with Caine's lot was now a week ago. Aspen had been staying at the old school ever since while Caine plotted in the head teacher's office. Drake had been assigned to look after her and he was loving it, tormenting her at every opportunity he had.

She was staying in one of the girls' dormitories and, judging by the names scrawled on the door, it used to be occupied by Alexis, Brooke and Mia, although looking around the room, there were hardly any clues as to what the girls were like. The room looked more like a prison, with grey walls, grey beds and bedding and grey curtains on the only window, which was much to high up to see out of, and far too small to climb out of. That was probably deliberate.

Aspen heard a knock on the door and went to answer it, knowing already who it was going to be. She had changed into some of Alexis' clothes, who seemed to be the same size as her, and was now wearing denim shorts showing off her tanned legs, and a navy Hollister polo. On her feet she wore denim canvas trainers. She opened the door and, sure enough, there stood Drake, wearing ripped jeans and a short sleeved black shirt with half the buttons undone. She found herself staring at his muscular chest and quickly looked away, but he'd already noticed. He smirked and wrapped his tentacle round her, pulling her into him as if they were a couple. Aspen knew better and awaited the deathly squeeze. There it was, like a cobra killing its prey. But, as always, Drake stopped just in time, leaving Aspen feeling faint and seeing stars. He laughed his cruel laugh and pushed her forwards; bringing his whip down on her rear. She squealed in pain and rubbed the spot he had striked and he laughed again. They walked into Caine's office.

"Ah Aspen, Drake. Perfect timing." He was sitting in the leather chair, Diana standing by his side, looking bored. "Phase 1 of our plan has already been carried out: Astrid is, at this minute, in the library, having a nice little chat with some of Drake's soldiers." Drake chuckled softly and Aspen looked confused.

"Who's Astrid?" She asked and Caine's smile widened.

"You'll find out soon enough." He grinned and winked at Diana. "Now, this is where you come in. In a short while you will go with Drake to keep guard. You will not let on to her your powers, but will observe her behaviour. You're gonna have to be really convincing for this to work. Then…"

Aspen gulped as Caine explained every little detail of her 'job'. What had she gotten herself in to?


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Astrid clenched her jaw and looked stubbornly ahead as the two thugs openly insulted her little brother. She wrapped her arm around him and held him close to her body, while he carried on playing his game, blissfully unaware of what was going on in the real world.

Finally after what seemed like a lifetime of being taunted and hurt by the Coates Academy bullies, the library door swung open. Astrid's heart sank as she saw the one person she was dreading seeing most of all. Drake Merwin. Beside him stood a very pretty girl, who looked stubborn but scared. She watched Astrid closely, not taking her eyes off her in a way that was kind of scary. Astrid smiled kindly at her but she didn't return it, instead switching her gaze to Drake, as if awaiting her next move.

"Aspen, this is Astrid. She's a know-it-all traitor who would turn on her own brother to save herself." He grinned a shark grin as Astrid's face fell and a single tear ran down it. She squeezed Little Pete tighter to herself. He continued to ignore her. "My brother's a retard!" Drake mocked, causing the other thugs to laugh stupidly. Aspen just continued to watch Astrid, no emotion visible on her face. Astrid felt sick inside and she saw Aspen notice it and make a mental note. What was going on? Who was this girl? What was she doing with Drake?

"See, Astrid here's got a little boyfriend called Sam. And she's waiting for him to come save her. She's probably planning on leaving her little brother behind cos she doesn't care about him. But, the thing is, Sam's not going to come and save her, because he's already as good as dead. Thanks to you, here Aspen." He smirked and put his tentacle around the girl who flinched slightly and stayed stubbornly silent. He watched Astrid's brain start turning as she tried to figure out how the innocent looking Aspen was going to kill Sam Temple. Drake watched her happily, loving how she couldn't figure it out. Astrid bit her lip nervously and squeezed Little Pete tighter, digging her nails in, willing him to react.


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

Aspen sat in the back of the SUV that a large brutish boy called Panda was driving. Drake was next to him in the front, leaning back leisurely in his seat and grinning unsettlingly. Accompanying Aspen in the back was a weedy little boy who right now was barely visible, blending in to the background like a chameleon. He answered to the name Bug.

Eventually the car came to a stop at the edge of a clearing. Drake turned around to face Aspen expectantly.

"Go on then. Work your magic." He said and, taking a deep breath, Aspen morphed into the blonde girl Astrid. Drake clapped his hands from the front.

"Very good. Now, Perdido Beach is just round the corner. Bug will show you there, and make sure you're doing as you were told. If not…" He pulled out a heavy metal gun from beside him and aimed it at her menacingly.

"Got it? Go." And Aspen…or now 'Astrid'…climbed out of the car, with the spy by her side. At least she thought he was by her side, she wasn't really sure. But then he grabbed her sleeve and pulled her along. She followed him obediently. She didn't have any other choice.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

Sam was sitting in the town hall, drumming his fingers on the old Mayor's desk nervously. Astrid had been kidnapped by Caine and co. and he needed to rescue her. Edilio, however, truthfully said that that was probably their plan. It still didn't stop the fact that they were holding his girlfriend captive. Sam couldn't just sit there and do nothing about it.

"Sam man, just think about it-" But he was cut off by the town hall door slamming open. Immediately Sam raised his hands and Edilio drew his gun, but they both dropped their weapons when they saw who it was. Astrid came running in, tears pouring down her face and stopped in the middle of the room. Confusion visible on her face for just a second, before Sam ran over to her and it disappeared. He threw his arms around her and she wept into his chest.

"Astrid! What happened? Omg I am so glad you're safe!" Astrid just nodded, and then after a while she looked up and wiped her tears.

"I ran away. Ohmygod Sam I was so scared, they-" She closed her eyes and shook her head, unable to go on. Sam pulled her closer towards him and kissed her head. She didn't usually break down like this in front of him…in fact she never had before. She was always the strong one, so this change of character worried him slightly. Suddenly he realised something.

"Little Pete…where is he?" Astrid looked uncertain of what to say for a moment, but the expression quickly vanished and she was welling up again.

"They…they…" Her voice broke. "They killed him!" Sam frowned and let her go; he went outside and looked around.

"But the barrier's still there…surely if he died it would have disappeared?" Astrid frowned.

"What do you mean?" She asked curiously.

"Little Pete. He made the barrier; if he died the barrier would come down." Curiosity and anger were visible on Astrid's face for a brief second before she shook her head again.

"No, no, I said they've still got him. He's still alive but I couldn't take him with me when I escaped." Sam looked confused and not convinced, but then he took Astrid's face in his hands and looked into her eyes.

"Don't worry baby we'll get him back." And then he kissed her. Astrid hesitated slightly before kissing him back.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Aspen sat up in bed, startled, she looked around for the source of the awakening…not that she'd been able to sleep in the first place…but there was no one there. Just then a familiar weed materialised in front of her and she breathed out shakily.

"Bug…of course…" She muttered to herself. The boy nodded in response.

"Message from Caine: good job, keep at it." He said. Aspen rubbed her eyes and sighed.

"I don't get why you can't spy on them? Why me? I'm not a bad person!" Aspen whined, she didn't think she could keep up the whole charade for much longer. Sam had been so nice to her since she'd arrived here, and that wasn't the only thing; it was just plain weird pretending to be someone's girlfriend who you'd never met before, and who thought you were someone else. Bug shrugged.

"Well…I can't go completely invisible, and they're expecting me anyway, so if they were really looking out for me they'd know I was there. Also Caine says that Sam keeps most of his plans in his head, so we need someone who he'll confide in. And, I'm needed elsewhere." He smiled smugly, obviously wanting Aspen to ask more. But she didn't. She hated being on Team Caine and figured the least she knew about what he was getting up to the better.

"Look, tell Caine I don't want to do this anymore." She said quietly.

"Really? You'd rather Drake deals with you?" Aspen shivered. She knew what she was doing was wrong, but at least she was safe while doing it. She was a good person, but not enough that she'd sacrifice herself for the good of the world…she was alright but she wasn't some hero. She was just your average girl…your average girl who could morph into anything she wanted. She sighed and pulled the duvet over her face, not able to look at that creepy little face anymore.

"Catch you later Astrid." She heard him say and then footsteps going to the door. Aspen let out a shaky breath and a single tear dripped onto the pillow.

Sam smiled as he took a big bite of boiled artichoke, oh the joys of the FAYZ life. But he, as well as everyone else, had got used to the grotesque food, and fussy children who wouldn't be caught dead eating anything but fast food before the FAYZ were now eating anything they could lay their hands on. It was survival. Sam smiled as Astrid came down the stairs, rubbing her eyes. She looked rough. He went to hug her but she flinched away. He frowned.

"Are you alright?" He asked, offering her some of the artichoke. She refused.

"Couldn't sleep" She mumbled. He frowned at her. She had been acting so different since being captured by Caine and co. Just little things, like allowing him to see her weaknesses and not being so pompous. Good things, but still. It wasn't the Astrid he knew. And she seemed depressed most of the time. She noticed him watching her and blushed slightly. Yes, something was definitely wrong.

"Astrid?" He said again and she stopped what she was doing, but didn't meet his eyes. He went over to her and held her face so she was looking at him. "Are you sure you're ok?" Tears collected in her eyes but she blinked them back furiously and nodded, pulling away.

"I'm fine." She mumbled, scampering back off upstairs.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

Aspen ran into 'her' bedroom and slammed the door behind her, collapsing against it. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, but when she opened them again she jumped nearly a foot in the air, Bug was sitting cross legged on her bed, staring at her.

"Eurgh, you again," She groaned, locking the door behind her just in case. Bug smiled.

"So…Caine says have you found anything out yet?" He said, and Aspen felt the knot in her stomach tighten.

"Not yet..." She muttered.

"Well hurry up, he says if you haven't found anything out by the end of tomorrow, he'll set Drake on you." And with that Bug blended in to the background and, unlocking the bedroom door, sneaked out of the house. Aspen sighed, how was she going to find out anything? She'd sensed Sam knew something wasn't right with her; she wasn't behaving enough like Astrid. But the trouble was, she didn't know what Astrid behaved like! The only time she'd seen her had been when she was scared and upset, but something told her that that wasn't normal for Astrid. It was time she did some detective work.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked as Astrid marched over to the front door.

"Just…out." She said, and Sam frowned. "To the…library?" Immediately Sam relaxed and nodded.

"Oh ok, going to try and find out more stuff about mutations?" Astrid nodded quickly.

"Yes! Yes I am." And out she went, with slightly more spring in her step. So Astrid liked going to the library, and she was interested in finding out about mutations. Oh, and what had Drake said? 'She's a know-it-all'. So…Astrid was clever. And probably quite proud. Right, she was definitely on to something. For the first time since this whole nightmare began, Aspen knew where she was. She'd spend the rest of the day finding out more about this 'Astrid' girl and building up Sam's trust, then tomorrow she would pounce. Find out his plans. Tell Caine, they'd leave her alone and she'd be free to be a normal girl again. And live happily ever after. The end. Aspen smiled to herself as she walked down the streets of Perdido Beach. She was going to get her life back! Then she would never use this horrible power again. Except maybe to turn into animals…that was fun.

Aspen reached the town Plaza and a small black kid scowled at her as he walked past.

"Hey, Howard man, wait up!" Yelled another and Aspen smiled. So this Howard guy didn't like her.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

After a day of walking around Perdido Beach as Astrid, Aspen Willow knew almost everything about her. And so as she finally returned 'home', she was feeling particularly confident. That was until she saw Sam. He was pacing the kitchen as she entered the house.

"Astrid!" He said, relaxing, relief filling his voice. Aspen nodded at him and started off up the stairs. She'd had a busy day and decided she'd work on the whole getting-information-out-of-him thing tomorrow. "Astrid…can we talk?" Aspen froze and turned around to look at him. He looked exhausted, both physically and emotionally. He also looked sad. Really sad. Aspen sighed and nodded, sitting at the kitchen table. Sam sat down opposite her. "Look…" He started, and then looked out of the window for inspiration, he reminded Aspen of her dad when he'd been giving her 'the talk'. She came to the conclusion that men weren't very good at the whole talking thing, or really showing their emotions at all. "Since you've been back you've…not been yourself…at all." He looked concerned. "I mean, I get that you're worried about Little Pete and everything but, I miss the old Astrid. I'm worried about you." He looked into Aspen's eyes and they looked so genuinely concerned that Aspen cracked. Screw it, she couldn't do it anymore! She sighed and held her head in her hands. "Astrid…" Sam said softly as he reached over and tried to take Aspen's hand. That was it.

"I'M NOT ASTRID!" She yelled, jumping out of her seat and morphing into her original body. There was a silence as Sam turned white as a sheet and gripped the table, hard. Aspen waited for him to say something but as the silence continued she started getting scared.

"S-Sam?" She asked, slowly walking towards him. Now he leapt out of his seat and backed towards the stairs, shaking his head. He tried to form words but was still too in shock for sound to come out. Just at that moment there was a flash of colour and then a copper-haired girl was standing in the middle of the room.

"Hey Sam I…oh, what's going on?" She surveyed the scene in front of her. Finally Sam found his voice.

"G-get Edilio Brianna. Quickly."

"Quickly's my middle name" Winked Brianna and she was gone before she'd even finished the sentence.

"I…look I'm so, so sorry but I…I never wanted to do any of it! I was just scared of them…" Sam frowned.

"_Who_?" He demanded.

"C-Caine and D…D…" She shuddered, not able to even say his name. Sam shook his head just as Brianna returned with Edilio on her back, looking like he was about to vomit.

"Sam! My soldiers are on their way, what's going on?" He took in the scared looking brunette girl and frowned, confused.

"Edilio. Lock her up. Get two guards on the door. Then come and meet me in the Town Hall. We _need_ to talk."

"No, Sam, I-" Aspen began but Sam was already leaving.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER 9**

Aspen sighed a shaky sigh as she sat on the cold tiles of the bathroom she'd been locked in, hugging her knees to her and wondering again how she's got into this mess. Her whole life she'd been kind of out of it, living with her dad at the Stefano Ray National Park. She's been home-schooled so never really had any friends or met any new people. Her dad wasn't exactly the best company either; he liked to keep to himself, not the biggest talker, especially not after Aspen's mum died. Neither of them had ever really got over it, even though they never, ever mentioned it. Aspen was a lot like her father, so it was ok. She liked being alone, alone with nature, going on long walks through the beautiful park. And after she'd discovered her power she'd enjoyed it even more, seeing what life was like through a deer or a rabbit's eyes as she ran around as different animals. She hadn't told her father about her power, and had been very careful to make sure he never caught her using it. But then one day he had just disappeared. Poof. And since then she'd been left to fend for herself. At first she'd just carried on as normal, and then had discovered the giant translucent wall and had decided she'd better try and find a way out of what she later discovered was some sort of cage. So she travelled towards civilisation, and that's where she met the oh so charming Drake Merwin. Even his name brought shivers down her spine. And now? Now what? Sam and his people seemed nice enough, but after finding out what she'd done…she sighed again, just as she heard some noise from outside the door. She thought about morphing into an owl as to hear what they were saying, but decided to build up their trust she should probably stop the whole morphing in. And so she waited until finally the door opened and in came Edilio and Sam, shutting and locking the door behind them. Aspen smiled weakly but they didn't return it, staring at her apprehensively instead. Eventually Sam spoke.

"I'm sorry, I don't know your name…"

"Aspen."

"Right. Aspen. So…you have a power." She nodded.

"I can morph into anything I want." She supplied and they nodded, she decided she would be completely honest with them.

"And that's ACTUALLY you?" Sam asked. Aspen nodded. He didn't look convinced but must have decided to take her word for it because he moved on.

"Tell us everything that happened. How you met my darling brother, what they told you to do etc etc" And Aspen did. They both perched on the edge of the bath, listening intently, until Aspen finally finished. She sighed and hugged her knees even tighter. Sam and Edilio looked at each other.

"How do we know we can trust you…?" Sam asked and Edilio shook his head, speaking at last.

"Come on man, look at her! She's terrified! It must of taken a lotta agallas to admit all of that, she can't even say Drake's name for god's sake! Give her a second chance." Sam frowned at her for a while then turned to Edilio.

"We've got more important things to think about. We've got a battle with Caine to start." And he walked out. Edilio stayed sitting there for a while longer, looking pityingly at Aspen, then he followed Sam. The door shut behind him and Aspen heard the lock click once more. She sat on the cold tiles and shivered, but not just from the cold.


End file.
